SmartNav first impressions

Here you can talk about SmartNav and related products and issues not covered by other forums.
kalorvoe
Posts: 55
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2008 7:21 pm

Re: SmartNav first impressions

Post by kalorvoe »

Wow, do those really work? Do you have to consciously frown or something for it to recognise an expression and trigger a response?

Is there a slight delay, like with voice recogniton?
kalorvoe
Posts: 55
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2008 7:21 pm

Re: SmartNav first impressions

Post by kalorvoe »

Yeah, it worked fine for me out of the box (XP on a gaming laptop 2 yrs old). Maybe it's a Vista thing?
dkehler
Posts: 72
Joined: Thu Dec 07, 2006 1:34 pm

Re: SmartNav first impressions

Post by dkehler »

[quote=KalorVoe]Wow, do those really work? Do you have to consciously frown or something for it to recognise an expression and trigger a response?

Is there a slight delay, like with voice recogniton? [/quote]

I haven't had as much time as I want to play around with it, but I have very little use of my arms/hands and I was able to use the NIA to complete something like the first 20 levels of Portal the very first day using it. You can adjust the sensitivity so that only a small facial movement is required to trigger an action. Also, with practice, you can (allegedly) train yourself to control the alpha and beta brain waves (three of each type) to trigger even more actions.

The one caveat I have is that many people including myself have a problem with a "high baseline" signal which makes the device unusable unless it is grounded, typically by touching the unit itself. For me, this meant having to balance the unit on the back of one of my hands, but I guess it could also be placed in any way that is in contact with your skin.

The bottom line is that, almost unbelievably, yes, it does work.
junkatagirinp
Posts: 22
Joined: Sat May 15, 2010 11:46 am
Location: California

Re: SmartNav first impressions

Post by junkatagirinp »

I've had my SmartNav 4:EG for one week. I work full time in the demanding construction business. Searching for the cure for my annoying mouse shoulder, I finally arrived at NaturalPoint SmartNav. I'm convinced that this technology really works for me.

Admittedly, just for the first few days, I was not very sure how I could rate SmartNav in comparison to the conventional mouse, with which I have had decades of practice. I want to be encouraging to the potential users of the near future because the learning curve with SmartNav happens faster than you'd think. Once the muscle in your neck learns the motion, the pointer will be right where your eyes target. You can forget about 'dragging' the cursor with your hand for good.

For CAD users like me, imagine being able to type commands with both hands while controlling the cursor point simultaneously. My setup utilizes a RollerMouse from Contour Design along with a tripple-action foot pedal by Kinesis, which allows me to keep both hands on the keyboard at all time, eliminating the need to reach over for the conventional mouse. Normal CAD operation requires a combined use of a three-button mouse with key modifiers, which so many of ergonomic solutions fail to provide. With SmartNav, I feel that it is possible to reach the level of accuracy and speed in doing production work, that would not be possible with the conventional setup.

I wish to thank the manufacturer for bringing such an intuitive product into the world. But it is just a tip of the ice burg. I'm excited to see how it evolves in the future.
Elizabeth
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu Feb 28, 2008 2:05 pm

Re: SmartNav first impressions

Post by Elizabeth »

Thank you for thoroughly describing your experience with SmartNav. We appreciate your feedback and encouragement to other potential users regarding the faster than expected learning curve.

Please let us know if we can do anything to facilitate your use of SmartNav with CAD applications.
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